Jack Wills chair Lord Davies could depart as part of new deal

Friday 19 August 2016 - Elias Jahshan

The chairman of fashion retailer Jack Wills could be prompted to step down thanks to a new shareholder deal.

According to Sky News, the board of Jack Wills is scheduled to meet today to finalise a transaction involving private equity firm Inflexion being replaced as a minority investor by Bluegem, owner of London's Liberty department store.

The new deal could pump millions of pounds of new equity to assist Jack Wills’ expansion and if successful it means Lord Davies – a former Labour trade minister who has been Jack Wills’ chairman since 2014 – could hand over the leadership to someone else.

Jack Wills is trying to shrug off what has been a difficult period for the company, with its latest accounts filed at Companies House revealing an £8.8 million loss for the year to February 1.

Despite this, return of founder Pete Williams as chief executive last year is already showing signs of an uptick in Jack Wills’ fortunes.

The British retailer, known for its preppy fashion range, was founded in 1999 by Williams and business partner Robert Shaw‎ with an investment of £40,000.

Today, Jack Wills operates 65 stores in the UK and 19 internationally – including in the US, Hong Kong and Singapore.